Dhoti, Suit and Trilby: M.K Gandhi and his opponents

M.K Gandhi, famously described as a ‘half-naked fakir’, has been visually defined by his dhoti (loincloth). In contemporary India his public image competes with those of other political figures of his era who are depicted in a suit (the Dalit leader B.R Ambedkar) and a trilby (the Marxist revolutionary Bhagat Singh). Professor Pinney will consider what these costumes signify and the very political choices they continue to embody.